Technologies for automatically taking photos are emerging to improve the quality of photos and make taking photos easier. Mobile terminals with this type of technology can support detection of a person's face, brightness, distance and motion of the subjects, as well as optical image stabilization, auto focus, auto exposure, auto white balance, or combinations thereof. These technologies increase the odds that an acceptable photographic image will be captured.
However, these technologies only partially address the needs of persons taking photographs. In particular, it is still difficult to capture high quality photos of oneself. In this regard, many mobile terminals provide a self timer, which delays the shutter release by a predefined period of time before capturing the image. This allows the photographer to initiate an image capture sequence, and then position himself in front of the camera of the mobile terminal before the image is taken. This approach often results in limited success because the photographer is unable to provide guidance to other people appearing within the photograph. Further, the photographer cannot be assured that the image that will be captured will appear as desired. The same situation exists when the photographer is unable to fully communicate with the persons being photographed and hence is unable to fully provide instructions to the persons being photographed. In particular, this can be the case when the photographer speaks a different language than the persons being photographed.
Accordingly, there exists a need for additional technologies which will improve the rate of success of photographs taken, particularly when the photographs are taken without a person holding the camera and when the person holding the camera is unable to fully communicate with the persons being photographed.